When politics tears families apart

2016 was (and still is) a very political year. It was an election year; one of the most divisive in America. Socially, it caused a lot of collateral damage. On social media, people unfriended or unfollowed each other; some couples even broke up over politics. This country need to heal and reconcile with itself.

Before the presidential election, I watched an instructive reportage on ABC’s Nightline. The journalist investigated several married couples who had irreconcilable political views. I could notice that, except for some few cases, most wives were Democrats and staunch Hillary Clinton’s supporters while their husbands were Republicans. So men were basically supporting men and women supporting women.

The Nightline reporter interviewed them about the impact of the elections on their relationships. They answered that politics divided their home and they had some inflamed arguments about it. Most of the time, those arguments were not really about policies but about the character of each candidate. Some wives threatened to leave their home or even the country if Trump won. Now that the election is over, and that Trump won, we wonder if those ladies actually carried out their threat. But one thing for sure, the post-electoral grudge is still vivid. It comes to the point that The View’s Joy Behar called on women to “build a wall around their vaginas” to punish their husband for voting for Trump.

The elections also divided family members such as fathers and daughters. As you can guess, fathers were on the Trump’s side and daughters were backing Hillary. Some children even insulted their parents by calling them every name in the book. “You disgust me”, said a daughter to her dad.

Among friends, these elections caused a lot of damage. On social media, friends and followers were at loggerheads, cussing each other out over their political affiliation. I read on the Miami Herald that people unfriended each other on Facebook during the elections. Since it’s easier to be bold and mean online than in real life, some people go unfiltered and lose some friends in the process.

The divisiveness that this election bought is understandable; to a lot of people, it was not just about policies but core values. Now that the election is over, people must realize that life goes on. It is not really the end of the world. This country must heal and reconcile with itself. Husbands, wives, family members and friends should not lose their precious relationships because of politics. It’s not worth it.